Al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya
מהויקיפדיה האנגלית Al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict at British Mandate. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War , as part of the second stage of Operation Barak. The village was located 32 km northeast of עזה History Remains from the late Roman (third–fourth centuries CE), Byzantine (fifth–beginning of seventh centuries CE), and Abbasid eras have been found here.Varga, 2009, Es-Sawafir esh-Sharqiya Columns and fragments were noted near the well.Dauphin, 1998, p. 869 Ottoman era Al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya was like the rest of Palestine, incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the census of 1596, the village appeared as Sawafir as-Sarqi under the administration of the nahiya of Gaza, part of the Liwa of Gaza. The place was noted as hali, that is empty, but taxes were paid on wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards, fruit trees and cotton; a total of 9,000 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 142 In 1838 the three Sawafir villages were noted located in the Gaza district. The western village was noted as "in ruins or deserted,” while the two others were noted as being Muslim.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 118Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. 370 In 1863 Victor Guérin found it to be the largest of the three Sawafir villages.Guérin, 1869, pp. 82 -84 In 1882 the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described it as one of three Suafir adobe villages. Each had small gardens and wells.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 413 British Mandate era According to the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya had a population of 588 inhabitants, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p. 8 increasing in the 1931 census to an all-Muslim population of 787 in 148 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 6 In the 1945 statistics, it had a population of 970 Muslims, with a total of 13,831 dunams of land. Of this, 585 dunams were for citrus and bananas, 386 for plantations or irrigable land, 11,821 dunums were for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 88 while 40 dunams were classified as built-up, urban land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 138 The village shared a school with the other two Sawafir villages, and it had an enrollment of about 280 in 1945. The village had its own mosque. 1948 War and aftermath In early May, 1948, the inhabitants of the three Al-Sawafir villages were ordered not to flee, by the Al-Majdal National Committee.Morris, 2004, p. 179 At the 23 May, 1948, Israeli reports say that at all the three Al-Sawafir villages the inhabitants slept in the fields at night, but returned to work in the villages by day.Morris, 2004, pp. 257-258 In 1992 the village site was described: "No houses remain on the site. New buildings stand on the spot where the Mosque used to be. Some traces of the former village are still present on the surrounding lands, however. There is a building for a water-pump in Isma'il al-Sawafiri's orchard, an old sycamore tree in the al-Buhaysi family's orchard, and an old cypress tree in an otherwise vacant field." References Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * *Nasser, G.A. (1955/1973): "Memoirs" in Journal of Palestine Studies **" “Memoirs of the First Palestine War” in 2, no. 2 (Win. 73): 3-32, pdf-file, downloadable * * * * External links *Welcome To al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya *al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya, Zochrot *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 16: IAA, Wikimedia commons *al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center *"My village was attacked and burned down": a Nakba survivor speaks, Electronic Intifada Category:Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Category:District of Gaza קטגוריה:כפרים ערבים